Detransition, Baby

by Torrey Peters

Hardcover, 352 pages

English language

Published Jan. 11, 2021 by One World.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-13337-8
Goodreads:: 48890225

A whipsmart debut about three women--transgender and cisgender--whose lives collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires around gender, motherhood, and sex.

Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.

A whipsmart debut about three women--transgender and cisgender--whose lives collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires around gender, motherhood, and sex.

Ames isn't happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese--and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby--and that she's not sure whether she wants to keep it--Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family--and raise the baby together?

This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can't reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel.

7 editions

bee reviewed Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Review of 'Detransition, Baby' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and One World for an ARC of this book.

This is a story about women, both trans and cis, navigating the complexities of a (potentially) parenting a child in a non-nuclear, non-heteronormative way. Torrey Peters excels at writing flawed, complex characters, that you cannot help but root for. As a trans person myself (but more so on the other side of the spectrum), I felt deeply for both Reese and Ames and their struggles both past and present with their identities and complicated lives. Reese is a beautifully unapologetic character, and Ames' character really helped destigmatize the concept of detransitioning. There were many emotional moments that I found myself connecting with, maybe getting a bit teary-eyed at times. I loved Peters' deep dive into both of these characters experiences and psyche, they were gorgeously written. I highly highly recommend this book. I definitely plan on buying …

Lindsay the Librarian reviewed Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Provocative, Indulgent, & Revealing...

5 stars

...Torrey Peters provides an emotionally charged whirlwind to her readers through flawed yet ceaselessly lovable characters. This groundbreaking piece on the transgender experience follows Reese - a transgender woman who longs to be a mother - and Ames – who detransitioned from a women and abruptly learns that he is an expecting father. This storyline unfolds hard, over three hundred pages that make you grimace, laugh, cry, and ponder over the conflicts of gender identity.

GG reviewed Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Review of 'Detransition, Baby' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I agree with others who described the writing style as indulgent, but as a straight cis woman, I really appreciated the ways this book showed me aspects of the trans experience I had never considered, and made me think about gender in new ways. I’m definitely recommending it to friends!